The Real Reason Queenie Joined Grindelwald
We all know that J.K. Rowling has a penchant for twists and turns in her narratives. However, some people fear that she might be losing her touch due to half-baked plots in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, particularly the brutally surprising betrayal by Queenie Goldstein.
How could our sweet, empathetic, Pukwudgie Legilimens, who falls in love with an endearing No-Maj, walk through the fire and stand with a man who views Muggles as a nuisance at best and a species needing to be subjugated at worst?
Some people posit the Imperius Curse as Queenie’s reason for betraying her sister and lover, but despite Gellert Grindelwald being a master of Legilimency, there is one moment in the film that points to Queenie being fully cognizant of her actions.
Credence walks through the fire to stand next to Grindelwald and is virtually unscathed. Now, people could argue that that’s because he carries Dumbledore’s blood, and those two have a blood pact, but I doubt something that intimate between two friends (or “more than brothers”) would extend to every member of the family. That would mean Dumbledore’s fifth cousin, twice removed would also be impervious to anything from Grindelwald. It’s far too big of a pool.
That leaves free will. Credence had the will to go to Grindelwald and was therefore uninjured. I believe a few of the Aurors were caught by the fire and were injured. Leta Lestrange, who made a faux attempt to join him, was only injured a little before her death.
Queenie joins him willingly and is unscathed like Credence, but it does hurt her to be touched by the flames. She chooses to go, but her emotions are torn between Grindelwald’s promises and her family.
Assuming that Queenie’s wish to join Grindelwald was completely and utterly her own, what was her major motive prior to her decision? What would motivate someone who is so empathetic to put their lover under a spell in order to trap them into marriage? Why was marriage so important? Why the desperate scream of “Walk with me!”?
The answer lies in a name so seemingly insignificant that most would never think of it: Anthony Goldstein. Anthony Goldstein is one of the boys in Harry’s year at Hogwarts.
How is it that two orphaned girls named Goldstein (one of whom marries a Scamander and has at least one son to carry on that name) have a descendant with their last name? I have a rather brilliant Slytherin friend who suggested that Newt would insist his and Tina’s second son (if they had one) take the maternal name so the line doesn’t die out, but while the sentiment is very sweet, Newt is very down to earth, as is Tina. Neither is included in nor probably gives a fig about the “Sacred Twenty-Eight,” so this is highly unlikely.
It is 1927, and No-Majs marrying wizards is still a huge no-no in America. Jacob’s main dispute against marrying Queenie is that she might go to jail. She doesn’t care and is desperate. Why?
What if Queenie Goldstein is pregnant with Jacob Kowalski’s child?
People could argue about the Goldsteins having other relatives, but when Queenie was talking about being orphaned as a child and Jacob was sympathizing, Queenie didn’t mention any at all, instead deferring to her older sister: “Aww… You’re sweet. But we got each other!” That would have been the perfect time to mention a sweet auntie Mildred if there were one.
We have an orphaned witch who is a Legilimens (probably somewhat ostracized already because who wants their mind automatically read when you bump into them in the Congress hallway?) and who is in love with a No-Maj, which is taboo. The result is an outcast, pregnant with her illicit lover’s child, both of whom are doomed to face prejudice and scandal as the outcome. Not to mention that this is 1927, and if Queenie and Jacob were not married, that might have also been a major cultural no-no for wizards and Muggles alike.
Queenie wasn’t necessarily looking toward Grindelwald as a hero. She was just looking to him as an avenue to save herself, Jacob, and her unborn child. Do any of you think Queenie Goldstein is pregnant? Let us know in the comments.
